Your Presenters

Patient Advocate Certificate Program | What is a Patient Advocate? |Course Information | Patient Advocate Certification Board | Meet the Designer | Your Presenters | Required Textbooks | Quality Matters

Melanie Gobourne

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As the Founder and President of Washington, D.C. Healthcare Advocates, Melanie built a career dedicated to empowering families to make informed healthcare decisions, with specialized expertise in chronic care. Her work focuses on creating accessible healthcare advocacy and life-care coordination for individuals navigating complex medical and insurance systems. With over a decade of experience, Melanie led initiatives in brand development, public education, and business growth. As an advocate and speaker, Melanie delivers impactful presentations to diverse audiences, including estate-planning attorneys, financial planners, and community organizations across the Washington, D.C. area.

Melanie’s extensive healthcare background also includes a successful tenure in both pharmaceutical and insurance corporate giants. Her contributions to the field have been recognized with multiple awards, while her board memberships and certifications, specifically the Board Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA) and Certified Cancer Journey Coach (CCJC) designations, underscore her commitment to patient-centered care and advocacy.

 

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Jennifer Halloran

 

Jennifer is the Director of Operations for Everybody Needs A Nurse in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. We are RN patient advocates, supporting seniors and their families through life’s transitions. Jennifer has developed this business from the ground up since its founding in 2007, providing leadership and continuity of management that frees our nurses to bring their best knowledge and caring to our clients.

Jennifer is a passionate champion for patient advocacy and believes this field is “the fix” for many of the problems in our health care system. Her previous career was as an academic, teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University for 14 years. She received her PhD in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Anne Llewellyn, MS, BHSA, RN, CCM, CRRN, CMGT-BC, FCM

 

Anne is a healthcare leader with over 40 years of experience as a critical care nurse, case manager, professional patient advocate, educator, editor in chief and a patient. She currently practices as a nurse advocate in South Florida assisting patients and families navigate the complex healthcare system. Anne also is a mentor and educator in case management and patient/health advocacy.

Anne is a past president of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) and an active member of her local chapter, the South Florida Case Management Network, and was a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Patient Advocate Certification Board who developed the first Patient Advocate certification. Anne was the recipient of the Case Management Society of America Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in case management.

Anne has lectured nationally and internationally on case management, patient advocacy and care coordination. Anne is author of Nurse Advocate, a national blog providing information meant to empower patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals to improve the delivery of care throughout the complex healthcare system.

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Dr. Margaret Toukonen

 

Dr. Meg Toukonen is currently a Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus teaching part time at Cleveland State University. She received her PhD in nursing from Kent State University and has an advanced practice in psychiatric mental health nursing, as well as an AAS degree in Animal Husbandry from the State University of New York. She is a certified Equine-Assisted Psychotherapist through EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association).

To combine her work with people and animals, her nursing research focus is on the therapeutic work with animals, and she teaches an elective course at CSU on human animal interactions and therapies

In the community she has facilitated pet-loss and bereavement support groups and is a past leader of the Cleveland Chapter of the American Holistic Nursing Association. Meg currently owns and runs a horse farm where she takes in retired horses.

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Christine Van Haren, RPh, BCPA

Chris is a Pharmacist and Board Certified Patient Advocate. She is CEO of A Better Way Professional Health Advocacy LLC in Madison, Wisconsin and serves clients as a Patient Advocate both locally and across the nation.

Chris graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy and has practiced as a Registered Pharmacist for over 25 years in both community and long term care settings. Working in pharmacy settings limited her ability to fully advocate for her patients so she chose to return to school at the Center for Patient Partnerships, also on the UW-Madison campus, to hone her skills.

Soon after founding A Better Way Advocacy in January 2019, she began developing A Better Way Advocacy Training, creating Continuing Education courses for other BCPAs. More recently she has begun supporting new Advocates through mentoring.

Firmly believing that we are better together, she is passionate about walking alongside people, whether patients or fellow healthcare professionals. As a lifelong learner she continues to expand her own understanding of mental health and wellness, substance use disorders, neurodivergence, mindfulness, healthcare policy and whatever else catches her attention. When she's not reading to learn, she enjoys historical fiction, knitting, hiking, and traveling. 

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Karen Vogel, MPH, MA

 

Karen has been involved with consumer advocacy, health education and insurance management for decades. She was an insider in the insurance industry before switching sides to represent the voice of the patient via her independent business, Kazadvocate. She completed the UCLA advocacy certificate program, then became a nationally Board Certified Patient Advocate in the first 2018 cohort. By demystifying our fragmented healthcare system, Karen saved hundreds of clients more than a half million dollars. She has been a subcontractor behind the scenes for GreyZone, Patient Advocators, ClaimMedic and Resolve, consulting on appeals and other complex issues. 

Karen was featured on HBO VICE News Tonight and has been quoted in many articles as an expert on strategies to negotiate bills. She assisted the Certification Exam Committee for the Patient Advocate Certification Board and is a member of the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates and HealthAdvocateX.

Karen holds an MPH in Health Administration from University of California, Berkeley, an MA in Social Ecology (healthcare research) from UC Irvine, and a BA in Psychology from State University of New York, Buffalo.

When not exploring the world, volunteering or writing books, you can generally find Karen in a kayak. She lives in Carlsbad, CA part of the year and Seattle, WA for the other half (when it’s not raining), and rents her homes to travel nurses.

 

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